Support
1. Chess-related questions
- There's a bug in the game - the enemy pawn advanced to the last row and then a second black queen appeared!
- There is a bug in the game. I just moved my pawn two squares and then it disappeared!
- Why can't I castle? How do I castle?
- Your chess engine is too hard! Help!
- Your chess engine is too easy! Is that the best you can do?
2. Playing chess online
- I see both SparkChess and flashCHESS mentioned. What's the difference between them?
- How can I upgrade to the latest version?
- Is playing the game online free?
- Why do you show ads online?
3. Playing chess offline
- I want to play the game without opening the browser, like a normal program; is that possible?
- What platforms does it work on (mobile phone, tablet, console, etc)?
- I'm on Linux - is SparkChess available for me?
- I bought the game, but I didn't receive an email or download link. What should I do?
- I downloaded the game but I can't find it. Do I need to buy it again?
4. Multiplayer
- Is the multiplayer service free?
- Is there a difference bewteen the free SparkChess and the full version, regarding multiplayer?
- Is is safe for a child to play SparkChess online?
- Can SparkChess work behind firewalls?
- I can't connect. Help!
5. Others
- What are the engine technical specs?
- How long did it take to make the game?
- What plans for improvements do you have?
1. Chess-related questions
Q: There's a bug in the game - the enemy pawn advanced to the last row and then a second black queen appeared!
A: That is a promotion; a pawn will be promoted to queen (or other piece) if it reaches the last rank. Please consult the official chess rules for details.
Q: There is a bug in the game. I just moved my pawn two squares and then it disappeared!
A: Most likely you were the victim of an en-passant take. Don't feel too bad, many casual players don't know about it. Please consult the official chess rules for details.
Q: Why can't I castle? How do I castle?
A: To castle, you move the king to the desired position - if castling is available; the rook will be moved automatically. Castling is not possible if the king or the rook has moved; or if the king is in check; or if one of the squares the king must travel is controlled by an enemy piece. According to the official FIDE rules, you can castle if the king was in check previously.
Q: Your chess engine is too hard! Help!
A: Try playing on Beginner. If you download the standalone version, you have access to some help tools that will help you make better moves.
Q: Your chess engine is too easy! Is that the best you can do?
A: Congratulations! You must be an advanced player; most likey you've played in tournaments. Our Chess AI was created to be fun, not brutally strong. On its highest setting, SparkChess can fully evaluate up to 8 plies and another 4 quiescence plies. It uses two evaluation functions, depending on the situation. The more advanced one takes into account material, mobility, positioning, bishop&knight value relative to the number of pawns, blocked&passed pawns, king safety and more.
If you are an advanced player, you can still enjoy SparkChess' multiplayer or by using its Board Editor and the PGN/Replay features.
Playing chess online
Q: I see both SparkChess and flashCHESS mentioned. What's the difference between them?
A: They are the same product. When we created the first game engine in 2002, we called it flashCHESS. Later, in 2008 the third generation of the engine, rewritten from scatch in AS3 took the web by storm and we wanted to keep the name due to its heritage, naming it flashCHESS III. To prevent any complaint from Adobe regarding the use of "Flash" (their trademark), we decided to rename the game as SparkChess.
SparkChess 5 is our newest release, with online multiplayer support.
Q: How can I upgrade to the latest version?
A: If you own flashCHESS III or SparkChess, you can upgrade to SparkChess 5 using this upgrade form.
Q: Is playing SparkChess online free?
A: Yes. Online play is free, although we display unobtrusive ads from Google. If you prefer not seeing the ads, you can download the standalone version of the game.
A: The tools used to build the game are rather expensive. On top of that, there is the hosting and bandwidth that must be considered. At the time of writing, we have about 500,000 unique monthly visitors, consuming a total of 300 GB of bandwidth. We are using a CDN and a performance monitoring service to maintain the quality of service.
The multiplayer service is using Amazon AWS EC2 service, which also entails some monthly costs.
Playing chess offline
Q: I want to play the game without opening the browser, like a normal program; is that possible?
A: Yes. SparkChess is available as a standalone application.
Q: What platforms does your chess game work on?
A: SparkChess is available on many platforms:
- Windows 32/64 bit, which will work on any Windows 2000, XP, Vista or Windows 7.
- Mac OS X version - tested on Intel-based Macs.
- Adobe AIR format, which will work on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.
You must have the Adobe AIR framework installed. - iPad.
- Android.
- Blackberry Playbook.
Q: I'm on Linux - is SparkChess available for me?
A: Get the AIR version - you'll need to download the AIR framework. We've tested SparkChess with Adobe AIR on Ubuntu.
Q: I bought the game, but I didn't receive an email or download link. What should I do?
A: Most likely the email sent to you was flagged as spam by your mail server or email application. Please check your Spam. If you can't find it, please contact us. We'll do our best to reply to you in 24-48 hours and will send you the game.
Q: I downloaded the game but I can't find it. Do I need to buy it again?
A: No. If you can't find it or in the event you lost all the information on your computer, please contact us. We'll need just the email address used with Paypal for the purchase.
Multiplayer
Q: Is the multiplayer service free?
A: Yes. There are no monthly fees, no subscriptions, no in-app payments.
Q: Is there a difference bewteen the free SparkChess and the full version, regarding multiplayer?
A: Yes. Paying customers have priority access to the service and are also able to use the Chat feature. Free users can play only if the server capacity is below a certain treshold and have limitations on the number of games they can play daily.
Q: Is is safe for a child to play SparkChess online?
A: We've taken reasonable steps to make SparkChess Muliplayer a fun and safe environment for children. Children under 13 do not provide any personable-identifiable information and may not use the Chat feature. We believe this is the safest way to ensure that they are not exposed to inappropriate language.
Q: Can SparkChess work behind firewalls?
A: Yes, if you can browse the web, you should be able to use the multiplayer service.
A: If you can see sites in your browser but can't connect to the multiplayer service, try disabling the local firewall and/or antivirus service; they are sometimes too aggressive in their settings. The server may also be down for maintenance, so try again later. If the problem persists and you have the full version of SparkChess, please contact us.
Others
Q:What are the engine technical specs?
A: SparkChess uses alpha-beta pruning with principal variation, iterative deepening and aspiration window. It also uses quiescence, history heuristics and transposition tables (saved searchers and evaluations) to speed up the processing. It has an opening database with about 7000 moves.
Q: How long did it take to make the game?
A: The original version took about three months, not including the time spent studying algorithms. The game is in active development, entering its fourth year.
Q: What plans for improvements do you have?
A: We'll be listening to feedback from all players and add the features they want the most. Our goal is to make people think 'chess=fun'.